Awake: The Yoga of Pure Awareness with Swami Nityananda

What does it look like to live two full lives, one as a celebrated literature professor, and one as a spiritual teacher guiding others toward joy and freedom?Swami Nityananda is the spiritual teacher of the Awake Yoga Meditation community, consecrated as a Swami in 2014. As Juniper Ellis, she spent over 25 years as Professor Emerita of English at Loyola University, holding Fulbright grants and national awards, and publishing scholarly work through Columbia University Press. She's the author of Awake: The Yoga of Pure Awareness.In this episode, Swami Nityananda reflects on the thread connecting decades of literary scholarship with her path toward spiritual teaching, what it actually feels like to experience "Awakeness" in an ordinary moment, and how pain, fear, and suffering can be transformed into joy and freedom. She also explains why Thich Nhat Hanh called meditating in community a miracle.What We Talked About:The connection between literary scholarship and spiritual teachingWhat experiencing "Awakeness" actually feels likeTransforming pain and suffering into joy and freedomWhy meditating in community is described as a miracleLiving beyond limitation through nondual awarenessConnect with Swami Nityananda:Website: awakeyogameditation.orgYouTube & Instagram: linked on her profile